Today Eric Ramirez talks about the technical support policy for the HP Service Pack for HP ProLiant servers and hot fixes for it. If you are not familiar with the Service Pack for ProLiant (also known as SPP), you may want to review additional information and other SPP videos at: www.hp.com/go/spp/

The SPP version is based on the year and month that the SPP is released and an identifier (typically 0). An example is SPP 2011.09.0 which you can tell from the version number was released in September, 2011.

Servers may use the contents of an SPP release for up to one year from when the SPP is released and still receive technical support. Technical support ends on the last day of the month 1 year from when the SPP was released. The 1 year period does not mean 1 year from the time the SPP contents were installed on the server but rather 1 year from when the SPP was released.

For example, if you have installed the contents of SPP 2011.09.0, your support period starts when you install the contents on your server and it ends on September 30, 2012 at which time you will need to update to a later SPP which is within its technical support window.

Our goal is for customers to be able to update their servers directly from one year’s SPP to the next year’s version in a single step.

Versions can be skipped within a 12-month support period. That means, for example, if HP releases 4 SPP versions during a 12-month period, you have the choice of directly updating as follows:

201x.01.0 to 201x.04.0

201x.01.0 to 201x.07.0

201x.01.0 to 201x.10.0

If you want to use the full year support period, component Hot Fixes can help you maintain your servers between your SPP release updates.

So, what is a hot fix? A hot fix is a FW or SW component update that is released outside of an SPP release and its previous version has been included in an SPP release. In the past, these were known as Critical Updates. Prior to release, each has been reviewed by HP and deemed important enough to warrant a release outside the normal SPP cycle.

Each hot fix will be individually tested against the released SPPs that are in their 12 month support cycle and will have a Customer Advisory (CA) documenting what is being addressed in the new component version.

You can find out what hot fixes are associated with a specific SPP by going to the SPP download page and selecting the button for the Hot Fix and Customer Advisories page. On this page, there will be a listing of the hot fixes and the Customer Advisories. You will be able to download the desired hot fix from the link on this page.

This enables you to selectively download these updates as a practical way to manage the impact of these changes in the context of your business. You do not have to update your servers with any of the hot fixes unless they affect components running on your servers.

This concludes the overview of the SPP Technical Support and hot fixes. If you still have questions, more information can be found www.hp.com/go/spp.